Floating deck for liquid-storage tanks



Feb. 23 1926.

J. H. WIGGINS FLOATING DECK FOR LIQUID STORAGE TANKS Filed D90. 14, 1923 INVENTOE 4 a]. WE /h s,

HTrOE/VEKS Patented' Feb. 23,1926.

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Application filed December 14, was. Serial No. 680,778; 4

' To all whom it may concern: p

Be it known that I, JOHN H. Wmems, a citizen of the United States, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, have inventeda cer- 5 tain new and useful provement in Floating Decks for Liquid-Storage Tanks, of

.which the following 'is a full, clear, andexact description, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and'use thesame.

This invention relates to'floating decks -for 'quid storage tanks of the type" that vcomp se a portion which floats upon and is supigzrtedb the liquid in the tank;

In ating ecks'of the,general type referredyto there is a tendency for the outer edge of the ortion of'the deck supported by the liquid to sag or deflect, downwardly when it is subjected to an excessive load and the mainobject of my invention is "to increase the buoyancy of such floating decks.

To this end I have devised a floating deckv that comprises a portion constructed either in the for of a limber or rigid sheet that floats upo 'the liquid inthe tank, and pontoons or uoyant devicespositioned adjacent the outer edge of said portion and arranged in engagement with the liquid ,in'the tank for increasing the buoyanc of said portion at its outer edge suflicient y to compensate for a-heavyload that tends to deflect the outer edge of said portion. I have herein illustrated my inventionembodied in a float ing deck of the type that comprises a central body portion that floats on the liquid in the. tank, and a variable peripheral portion for closing the annular-space between said central ortion and the side wall of the tank, but l wish it to be understood that my invention isap licable to any type or klnd of floatin deck 7 Figure 1 o the drawings is a vertical transverse sectional view of a liquid storage tank e nipped with a floating deck constructe in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Fi re 1.

Figure 3 is a detail vertica sectional view of one of the pontoons; and Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, illustrating the construction of the varesiding at "riable peripheral portion of the deck shown in Fi e 1.

lower edge portion is submer ed in? the c liquid in the tank and D designates the horizontallfy-disposed elements that project inwardly om said shoe members towards a vertically-disposed annular riin E on the central body portion-of the deck, said shoe members co-operating with the horizontallydisfiosed elements D to form. a variable rip eral portion that closes the an ar space between the side wall of the tank and "the vertical rim E on the central body por tion of the deck. "The variable peripheral portion of the deck, formed by" the 'shoe members 0 and elements D, is carried by' pivotally mounted-hangers or' supports F mounted on the central body portlon B of the deck such a WK as to rmit the cooperating sections of e varia le' peripheral portion of the deck to move radially with rcsiect to the central body portion of the dec As shown in Figure 1, two hangers F are rovided' for eac section of the I -riphera portion of the deck, each of WhlCll hangers consists of a substantially elbowshaped lever-arran ed with its verticalileg pro ect1ng upwar y from the rim' Ei on Re erring to the drawings which illustrate A designates the members 0 and-the side wall of'thetank." In order to insure thelower-edge port on of the shoe members C remaining in' snug engagement with the side wall ofthe. tank, the r1m.E on the central body portion of the deck is rovided with spring-pressed plungers G t at bear against the inner sldeiof the shoe members C,-as shown inFi re 4.- It is essential that gas-tight joints be ormed between the various sections'of the periph-' eral portion of the deck and also between.

' said variable peripheral portion and the tank, and in the form of my invention herein illustrated this is eflected by arrangmg flex-1:".

rim E .on the central body portion-of thedeck so as to prevent the escape of gases or vapors that collect in the annularjspace between said rim and the ide; wall of the ible sealing devices at between the various sections of the variable peripheral -port 1on of the deck and arranging a flexible sealln device 3 between the rim Eon the centra Y body portion of the deck and the horizontallv-disposed plates. as (J my pending application forpatent. Serial No. 627,835,. filed March 26, 1923 andherein;

D on the shoe members that lap over saldrim, .as described in shown diagrammatically. It will, of course,

be obvious that any other suitable means can be em' loyed to produce gas-tight jointsbetween t e variable peripheral portion '0f the deck and the central body portion with the central body portionof the-deckis im'- material, so far as my inventionis con-" cerned.

' out departing tion-,-and while I have herein illustrated my invention embodied in a deck having a va;-' riable peripheral portion that is-. sustaine'd' portio o from the spirit of my invenby swmgiugl hangers on the central body f t e deck, I wish it to :be understood hat the particular design ,and"con'- struction of the peripheral portion of the deck and the means used to mount same on the central body portion of the deck adja-.

cent the outer edge of sameand projecting downwardly belowthe same so as to counteract the tendency of the outer edge of the central body portion of the deck to sag or deflect downwardly, due to. the relatively great load. imposed Q, same by the shoe members 0, horizonta y-disposed plates D and hangers F that carry said parts. The

ontoons H can Deformed convenientlc lindrical members arranged vertica y in .65

eeves I that projeet'upwardly from the opening is removed.

central body portion B of the deck and provided with closed ends that aresubmerged in the liquid in the tank. Said pontoons are'preferably detachably'connected to the sleeves I by fastening-devices 3 that pass through laterally-projecting overlapping flanges on thesleeves I and pontoons H, an

each pontoon is preferably provided with a removable cover J formed by. a flanged cap that extends over-the upper end of same. By connecting the ontoons to the central body portion of the. eck in this mannerit is a simple matter to remove a pontoonand're' air or replace it by a perfect pontoon, an in order that one or more of thepo'ntoon'smay be removed wlthout draming the tank, I make the sleevesI of such height that when a ontoon is removed the ',,upper end portion oi the sleeve from which the pontoon was withdrawn will project .high enoui aboye the surface of the liquid in "the tan to prevent the liquid from escaping upwardly throughsald sleeve and overflowing, onto the central body portion B of the deck.

1 a. floating deck of the construction above described the portion B of the deck that-isjfsupported by and floats upon the li uid'lin thetank will'be maintained in a substantially horizontal position, even though the peripheral edge of said portion is subjected to a load of relatively great weight, due,of course, ,to the fact that said per ion isprovided adjacent its outer edge with pontoons or. other suitable devices that projectdownwardl below the underside of said. portion whic rests upon the. liquid. The pontoons herein illustrated are only one of many forms of pontoons or buoyant devicesthat may housed, and "while I prefer to detachably connect said pontoons to. the central body portion of the deck to facili- 'tate"renewal and repair of said pontoons,

this is not necessary.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new anddesire.te secure by Letters Patent is: i

1. A floating deck, for liquid storage tanks,

comprising a portion that floats upon the liquid in the tank and covers the ma or part of the surface of the liquid, pontoons or buoyant devices removably mounted in openings in said portion arranged adjacent the outer edge of same, and means for prevent-' iug the liquid in thetank from escaping upwardly through one of said openm s when the pontoon that co-operates with said 2. floating deck for liquid storage tanks, comprising a central body portion adapted to float upon the liquid in thetank, sleeves pro ectlng upwardly from said body portion and arranged adjacent the outer edge of same, and pontoons or buoyant devices removably mounted in said sleeves.

3. A floating deck for liquid storage tanks, comprising a central body portion adapted to float upon the liquid in the tank, sleeves projecting upwardly from said body por- 5 tion and arranged adjacent the outer edge of same, and pontoons or buoyant devices removably mounted 1n said sleeves, sa d sleeves being of suificient height or depth to prevent the liquid in the tank from escaping upwardly through same and overflowing onto the body portion of the deck during the operation of removing or replacing a pontoon.

JOHN H. WIGGIN S. 

